1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to musical drums and, more particularly, to an improved construction of a drumshell, and a process of producing a drumshell.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The quality and intensity of sounds produced by a musical drum derive from two principal components, namely the drumhead and the drumshell. The drumhead contributes to the instrument's sound characteristics when struck by an object, such as a drumstick, mallet or the like. The composition of the material used to construct the head, and the material's thickness, combine to produce a distinct sound. Various blends of synthetic plastic and fabric materials are normally employed to produce known sound characteristics. But no distinct sound can ever be realized until the head is actually struck and caused to vibrate.
Although the shell is also caused to vibrate whenever the head is struck, not a great deal of attention has been paid to this otherwise critical component in terms of its significant contribution to the instrument's harmonics. Since the shell is a vibrating medium, similar in certain respects to the head, and vibrations affect the drum's sound characteristics, it follows that the composition of the shell component is an extremely important consideration.
The drumshell determines the timbre, or quality, of the tone produced by the head. Timbre relates to the harmonics, whose relative intensities are determined by the amount of sound that the drumshell absorbs and radiates. Prior art drumshells are comprised of a variety of materials, including, for example, wood (solid or laminate), fibreglass and carbon-graphite. In some cases, these materials are blended to create a hybrid sound. However, none of these materials, either alone or in combination, are as cost effective to manufacture and have been capable of producing the wide range of intense and quality sounds as the drumshell composition of the present invention. More specifically, the combination of components that comprise the present invention are capable, in contrast to prior art drumshells, of producing vastly improved sound characteristics for use in a wide range of applications, including without limitation, orchestral, marching band, jazz, rock and ethnic percussion environments.
The present invention also includes an improved process for producing the drumshell.